


Seeing Double

by CPTSTARKROGERS (orphan_account)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Knives Out (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Cryogenics, Fluff, Hydra, M/M, More tags to be added, Ransom Drysdale Being an Asshole, Ransom Drysdale is Steve Rogers' Biological Brother, Ransom Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21707938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/CPTSTARKROGERS
Summary: "Have you been cloned?" It sounds ridiculous, and Tony knows that, okay, but how else is he supposed to explain—"I thought he was supposed to be a genius?" Other Steve snaps. "We're twins, idiot."Oh.—OR—Steve has a brother — his identical twin — and it's only in April 2014 that Tony finally learns about him. Hilarity and confusion ensues (as well as a mission to stop HYDRA's murderous plan and save the world, of course).[Please note: I used to have the usernames xmarrrvelx and wingheadx on wattpad and ao3, but now I've changed my username again. So if you think you've read my fics before, but don't recognise 'cptstarkrogers', don't worry! It's still me!]
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 38
Kudos: 149





	Seeing Double

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by an idea that originated on Twitter. Shoutout to @Nan_Yelo for coming up with this amazing idea :))
> 
> Don't worry if you haven't seen Knives Out — all you need to know is that Ransom is an Asshole. With a capital A.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (Also, I haven’t checked through this yet so I’m sorry if there are any mistakes.)

_**Now: April, 2014.** _

As soon as the elevator doors open, Tony is met with the sound of Steve yelling at someone. Immediately, alarm bells start ringing in his head, because Steve _never_ shouts at anyone. Even if he's feeling impatient, he always bites his tongue and never loses his cool. That didn't necessarily mean that Steve never got angry or stressed — he was just very good at not showing it.

(Tony's only ever seen a stressed-out Steve once in the time they've been together, and that was after a two-week-long SHIELD mission that had ended up being completely pointless, because the person they'd been following and gathering intel on wasn't even the right person they'd been after: the information they'd been given was false and it turned out that their target had been dead for three years...Yeah. The entire thing was a waste of time. The pair had shared a long, warm bath that night, and afterwards Tony had given Steve a relaxing massage, while Steve kept his face buried in his pillow and complained about the whole thing until Tony — with the help of his singing voice — managed to lull him to sleep.)

"You need to leave." Tony hears Steve all but growl. Jeez. _Some_ body's pissed him off. "You have no right to ask me for help after all you've—No, you know what? Just—just get out!"

Tony slows his pace, and makes himself as quiet as possible as he makes his way through the communal living room and towards the kitchen. If there's someone here who could cause trouble, he doesn't want to make his presence known yet — he's better off waiting to see if there's a real threat here or not. Slowly, his fingers slide over the face of his watch, and he subtly taps it twice, assembling a smaller version of his iron man gauntlet around his wrist and hand. It's better to be safe than sorry, after all.

He can see Steve standing in the open archway, wearing clothes that Tony doesn't recognise — maybe Natasha took him on another shopping trip? — and looking surprisingly relaxed, considering all of the shouting: his hands are tucked into his pockets, and his shoulders are slouched. His head is tilted back in a way that Tony would normally associate with him smiling, though that doesn't make sense, given that Steve is yelling his head off. Tony frowns, and edges closer. He hasn't heard the other person talk, yet. Weird. Tony would've been yelling his ass off by now.

"Come on, seriously?!" Steve speaks again, lifting his hand to point at whoever he's confronting. "Are you still mad about all of that? Jesus, you act like I'm not entitled to make my own decisions—"

"That didn't give you an excuse to act like an asshole!" Steve interrupts, and Tony ignores the fact that Steve just swore, trying to figure out instead what the hell is going on, because now it just sounds like Steve is arguing with _himself_ —

He decides to intervene. Steve's probably fine. Apparently his therapist has been giving him new methods to try and cope with stress as an alternative to bottling it all up or taking it out on punching bags — maybe aggressively shouting at himself is one of them? That's like...a thing, right? Tony wouldn't know, after spending all of his time avoiding the therapists Pepper sends his way. (He doesn't need therapy. He's fine. He is. He _is_.)

"Hey, Steve," Tony says as confidently as he can. He makes his way into the kitchen, reaches out and places a gentle hand on Steve's shoulder, and asks softly, "Is everything okay? I heard you shouting and—" And then he stops suddenly as he makes eye contact with Steve, who's stood on the other side of the kitchen, nowhere near Tony or Steve, _except no, that's not right, because if Steve is stood over there then who is—But Steve is stood right next to him, too, so who is—But that's Steve—But—_

Tony does not scream. He _doesn't_.

He just... _yelps_ a little, yanking his hand away from Steve's shoulder as though he'd dipped it in boiling water. Steve turns around and glares at him, and opens his mouth to say something, but then Steve, the _other_ Steve ( _there'sanothersteveohmygod_ ), steps forward, his eyes wide, and curses:

"Shit, Tony—"

Steve — _except that's not Steve, because Steve is stood over there, but then_ that _can't be Steve, because Steve is stood over_ here — cuts him off, smirking as he chuckles and goes, "Ohohoho, who's this?!"

Tony staggers backwards, colliding with a stool and nearly knocking it over. "What the hell?" He whisper-shouts, and then repeats it again, but louder: "What the _hell_?!"

"Tony Stark? Wow, this is not how I imagined meeting you." One of the Steves steps forward, the smirk on his face growing as he gives Tony a once-over. "Huh. You don't look anything like the Tony Stark I see on the news all the fucking time. You're so small. What are you _wearing_?"

" _Ransom_." The other Steve snaps, and a small part of Tony thinks _wow, what a random thing to say_ while the rest of him pays attention to the dog tags hanging around Steve's neck...and the lack of them on the other Steve.

Suddenly, he has an idea of which Steve is his boyfriend, and which one is...his boyfriend's clone? _Has Steve been cloned?_

_Steve's been cloned. There's two Steves._

_Steve's been cloned and there's two Steves and—_

"What. The hell."

"Is that all he's going to say?"

"Ransom." Tony's Steve says again, voice not quite as biting as last time but still laced with anger — and what is with Steve's sudden obsession with money and kidnappings? His Steve sighs, placing his hands on his hips, and says, "Believe me, Tony, this isn't how I wanted you to find out about this."

"About...what?" Tony says slowly, keeping his eyes only on his Steve as a small comfort. He puts his hands in his pockets to hide the fact that they're shaking. "No, seriously, what the—what the fuck is going on?"

"Ah, good, he's learned how to say more than three words."

They even sound the same, Tony thinks bizarrely. He lets out a small, "Steve..." without meaning to, and hates how pathetic and bewildered he sounds. Steve comes closer, looking a little worried.

"I can explain, Tony, I swear—"

"Have you been cloned?" It sounds ridiculous, and Tony knows that, okay, but how else is he supposed to explain—

"I thought he was supposed to be a genius?" Other Steve snaps. "We're twins, idiot."

 _Oh_.

His Steve lifts his head to stare at the ceiling in a 'God, give me strength' fashion, before he shaking his head to himself and moving closer to Tony's side.

"Hey, look," Steve begins gently, reaching forward and carefully taking Tony's wrists in his hands. Tony allows him to guide his hands out from his pockets and intertwine their fingers together. "It's okay." Steve gives his hands a friendly squeeze. "This is my _brother_ , Tony."

"Your brother," Tony repeats slowly, then raises his eyebrows as it all suddenly sinks in. "You have a brother."

Steve winces, and looks away guilty. "Yeah. I'm sorry I never—" He sighs and steps away from Tony, letting go of his hands. Tony pouts at the loss of contact, though Steve isn't watching. He starts pacing, running his fingers through is hair, and Steve's brother — _he has a brother!_ — looks on with a smirk, apparently amused. "Look, it's a long story and—"

"Aw, hasn't good ol' Steve told you about me?" Steve's brother sneers, leaning forward ever so slightly. Steve stands still and shoots him a glare. Ransom squints at him in return, then looks back at Tony, shooting him a fake smile. "The name's Ransom. I'm the older, much more handsome Rogers brother."

"Ransom. We are literally twins."

Tony blinks and zones out a little, turning his gaze away from Steve to stare blankly at the newcomer. _He's Steve's brother._ He may have been on edge a minute ago, but now, not so much: the guy doesn't look that threatening, really (though he does seem like a bit of a dick, he's gotta be honest) and Steve may be angry, but he doesn't look like he's scared of him or anything. _Because it's his brother. His brother. What._

Slowly, and quietly, Tony disassembles the gauntlet, hands shaking with shock rather than fear. There's no real danger here, he decides. _This is...This is Steve's brother,_ he tells himself. _He's...family...?_ Ransom does seem like a normal guy, wearing dark trousers, a white knitted jumper, and a long, brown coat, all stylish and modern-looking — except for the scarf, which is so hideous Tony can't help but wonder if it was made by a colour-blind chimpanzee on crack — and so really, the only thing Tony can say about the guy's appearance that makes him wary is his face. The guy looks _just_ like Steve.

And yes, okay, Tony _knows_ that that's how identical twins work — which is evidently what Ransom and Steve are — he wasn’t born yesterday, alright, but...it's just _creepy_ , okay? If it wasn't for the clothing choice and Steve's dog tags, Tony would never be able to tell them apart. God, imagine if Tony hadn't seen Steve stood in the corner of the kitchen, and had gone up to Ransom and kissed him good morning and— _okay, ew, nope, stop that, ew, ew, ew—_

" _And_ you're only older by eleven minutes," Steve continues, muttering under his breath as though to stop Ransom from hearing him. (It doesn't work). "It literally makes no difference—"

"Uh, it makes _all_ the difference—"

 _Steve has never mentioned having a brother before_ , Tony thinks, scratching his head. Though, to be fair, Steve never spoke much about his family at all, save for his ma, who he proudly talked about all the time. Tony's always assumed that it was because Steve didn't want to talk about his past life, which is completely understandable, given that nearly everyone he used to know is now dead...

And that was the thing, wasn't it? Ransom should be dead, too. Or at least incredibly old. If Steve had ever briefly mentioned him to Tony, that's what Tony would've assumed straight away. It doesn't make sense to see him standing here, alive in 2014, looking just as young as Steve.

"What—How the hell are you still alive?" Tony blurts out, interrupting the two brothers' bickering. The two stop and stare at him, instantly silent. Tony feels his cheeks getting redder and redder, and shuffles awkwardly on his feet, avoiding their gaze. "I'm just saying," He adds, mumbling. "It doesn't make sense. Unless you were injected with the serum—Wait." Tony's head snapped up, and he pointed a finger in Ransom's direction, eyes wide with curiosity. He thinks about the history of Project Rebirth; how they failed to recreate the serum after Dr Erskine's death. Steve was their only successful soldier. That's what he'd been told, anyway. But looking at Ransom now, he wasn't so sure. " _Were_ you given the super-soldier serum?!"

Ransom blinks at him, once, twice — and then bursts into laughter.

"Jesus Christ!" He says, doubling over and slapping his knee. Steve sighs again, shaking his head, while Ransom continues to wheeze with laughter. "Was I given the—Was I—Oh, my God!"

Tony narrows his eyes, and clenches his hands into fists. "Hey," He says defensively, stepping forward. "How the fuck am _I_ supposed to know anything?! I only found out about your existence like five minutes ago!"

"Tony..." Steve says slowly, resting a hand on his shoulder, almost like a warning. Tony swivels around and glares at him, pushing his hand away sharply.

"Don't," He snaps, while, in the background, Ransom is starting to calm down, grinning madly and wiping tears from his eyes. Tony ignores him. "Why didn't you tell me you had a brother, Steve? A brother that's still alive?!" He hisses under his breath. Steve shakes his head and looks away, biting his lip. His eyes are suspiciously wet, and for a moment, Tony feels sorry for him. He's mad at Steve for lying to him, sure, but he doesn't want to see him cry.

"You're hilarious, Stark." Ransom snorts. "Was _I_ given the serum...God..."

Still ignoring him, Tony keeps his eyes fixed on Steve, waiting for an answer. Steve keeps blinking rapidly, clearly trying to hold back tears, and Tony is torn between feeling sorry for him and wanting to yell at him. He should be mad — Tony tells Steve everything, and they've always promised to be truthful to each other — but the way that Steve's acting now makes him realise that there must be a significant reason as to why he kept the truth about Ransom hidden. Steve isn't an actor, after all. These tears are real.

"Alright," Tony says quietly, then clears his throat. "Don't tell me. It's fine. I'm sure you...have your reasons." God, part of him just wants to scream _tell me!_ but he knows he can't do that. Steve is entitled to have his own secrets, even if it hurts knowing that he's keeping them from Tony.

Steve looks up then, still biting his lip, his eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"You don't have to explain," Tony reiterates, taking a deep breath and putting a fake smile on his face to reassure Steve. "It's fine." It's not — well, no, Steve has the right to keep stuff to himself, but...Tony can't help but feel disheartened knowing that Steve doesn't trust him enough to tell him about his own family member, even if there's a bad story behind it. Tony told Steve all about Howard, after all.

Steve stares at him strangely for a few seconds, lips parted, and his eyebrows twitch a little as he frowns. He blinks slowly, eyes flicking from left to right as he looks between both of Tony's, probably trying to work out why he suddenly changed his mind about wanting to know. He doesn't say a word, though — or doesn't get the chance to, because Ransom soon interrupts.

"Alright, clearly there's been some miscommunication here. You lovebirds can sort that out amongst yourselves later though, yeah? I've got some more important things to talk to you about." He says causally, as though the whole thing is no big deal. Steve and Tony turn slowly towards him and raise their eyebrows, almost in sync, and Ransom backs up a little, lighting his hands up in the air in surrender. "What?"

"Ransom," Steve begins, voice flat. Ransom does his best to give an innocent shrug, though it's clearly half-hearted.

"Hey, if this is about me knowing that you two are banging — well, I'm sorry, okay, but it's obvious as fuck. Literally. You two might as well be in the middle of a fuck right now, it's that fucking—"

"Why are you still here?" Tony cuts in, raising a hand to shut Ransom up.

"Excuse me?" Ransom splutters, then collects himself, folding his arms.

"This is my tower." Tony says seriously, stepping forward slowly. "And yet you come in here, acting like an ass who thinks he owns the place. It's clear Steve doesn't want you here, either—"

"He was the one who invited me up, Short-Stack." Ransom sneers, leaning in close to Tony's face. "And if he wants me to leave, he can fucking well say so. I don't care _who_ you are, you don't tell _me_ what to do—"

"Fuck you," Tony snarls, shoving Ransom in the chest. It's a childish move, he knows, and Ransom barely moves, but he doesn't care. This guy is a dick.

"Oh," Ransom chuckles darkly with a twisted grin on his face, tilting his head. "You think you're a tough guy—" He jabs Tony sharply in the chest with one finger, inches away from the Arc Reactor. "— _huh_?"

The action doesn't hurt that much, but Tony slaps Ransom's hand away, gritting his teeth. "I'm _warning_ you—"

"Hey," Steve warns with what Tony calls his 'Captain America voice', hoping to prevent a fight from breaking out. " _Stand down._ Both of you."

Ransom pays no attention to him, staring Tony straight in the eyes. Tony glares right back at him, ignoring Steve as well. "You think you're fucking tough, _huh_ , just because you're fucking _Iron Man_?" As he speaks, Ransom steps close, so near to Tony that they're almost touching, then pushes roughly against Tony's chest, one hand knocking against the edge of the Arc Reactor. Tony actually staggers backwards from the force of it, and it takes every ounce of will he has left to keep his hands by his side, and not rub at the Reactor in pain. Steve shouts in protest, marching forward, and Ransom laughs and shoves at Tony again, but doesn't really do any harm, because—

"Hey!" Steve grabs the back of Ransom's collar and yanks him away from Tony, earning a yelp of surprise from his brother. Tony barely has time to blink before Steve is shoving Ransom up against a wall, practically growling in his face. "Back. Off."

"Hey, hey, hey—" Ransom laughs nervously, and though he tries to remain stoic, Tony can see the panic rising in his eyes. Because who would be able to remain calm while being held up against a wall by Captain America? "Relax, Little Guy—"

"Don't call me that." Steve snarls, punctuating his words by pushing Ransom even further against the wall. "And don't speak to Tony like that ever again." He warns seriously, his voice low. He leans in closer, and points a finger. "If I _ever_ see you touching him like that again, I'll—"

"You'll what?" Ransom intervenes, plastering a smug smile on his face. "You'll kill me?"

Steve clenches his jaw tightly, eyes furious, but doesn't say anything. He gives Ransom one final shove and then lets go of him, stepping away. Tony silently wishes he'd say something — but he doesn't. The silence that follows is soon filled by Ransom's laughter.

"Oh, Steve." Ransom chuckles, standing upright and straightening out his jacket. He briefly makes eye contact with Tony, wiggling his eyebrows, before staring at his brother. "Steve, Steve, Steve...I know you too well, brother. You'll never hurt me."

"Get out." Is all Steve says in response, as calmly as he can. He's not looking at his brother, stubbornly keeping his eyes off of him, and his arms are folded across his torso, hands clutched tightly into fists.

Ignoring him, Ransom continues: "You shouldn't threaten me, y'know. You should _listen_ to me—"

"He told you to leave." Tony finally cuts in, narrowing his eyes. He points to his left. "The elevator is that way. You should go."

Ransom shakes his head, the ghost of a smile on his face. "You're gonna regret this." He says, chuckling darkly, though he finally gives in, pushing past Steve and Tony as he walks away.

"Fuck off, Ransom." Steve breathes, clenching and unclenching his hands. Tony tentatively places an arm on his bicep and squeezes it lightly; Steve relaxes a fraction, offering Tony a small smile, though it's half-hearted. He looks fed-up. And annoyed. Tony has a feeling he'll be retreating to the gym later to take his anger out on some punching bags.

" _Fine_ , I will." Ransom lifts his head, appearing to seemingly be unbothered. But he must be somewhat aggravated at the thought of being kicked out, because he lifts a hand and aims it in Steve's direction, pointing his finger. "But don't expect me to _help_ you when Hydra come knocking at your door."

Tony freezes, quickly lifting his head to look confusedly at Steve's twin. "What are you talking about?"

Shaking his head, Ransom throws up his hands in the air, giving a fake laugh. "Too late!" He says, stepping into the elevator. "I'm done. You'll have to ask _him_." The doors slide shut before Tony can say anything else. The last thing he sees is Ransom nodding at Steve.

"JARVIS, make sure he goes straight down to the lobby and then out the building." Tony mutters with a sigh, rubbing at his temple. He can feel a headache coming on. "Don't give him access to any other areas of the tower."

" _Of course, sir._ "

Beside him, Steve sighs heavily. "I'm sorry." He whispers, closing his eyes. He leans backwards against the kitchen counter, and puts his head in his hands. "That wasn't how I—You weren't supposed to meet him...like that."

"Was I supposed to meet him at all?" Tony responds, cocking his head. "Or were you just never going to tell me that you have a twin brother who's still _alive_ —"

"I was planning on letting you know." Steve winces a little, dropping his hand and looking up to meet Tony's eyes. "But I kept putting it off—"

"Well, yeah. Evidently." Tony scoffs, not caring that he sounds petty.

"Ransom is an asshole, Tony." Steve continues, sounding almost like he's pleading. "That back there, that was _nothing_ compared to what he's normally like."

"And? I'm like, the biggest asshole ever—"

"No, you're not." Steve shakes his head. "You're absolutely nothing like him. And I kept you from knowing about him because...because I didn't want him getting anywhere near you."

"So you were protecting me. Right." Tony says flatly, thinking it's a load of bullshit. "You don't need to do that. I can defend myself."

"I know." Steve actually smiles at that, gentle and soft. "But Ransom..." His voice turns serious. "He's not a good guy, Tony, and quite frankly...I'm ashamed to call him my brother."

Steve looks so uncomfortable, and Tony knows that they're just going to keep going around in circles if he keeps questioning him. He's so got questions about Ransom, and he'll ask them later, but for now he decides to change the topic.

"Why was Ransom talking about Hydra?" Tony knows exactly who Hydra are — it'd be crazy if he didn't. He grew up with Howard Stark as his father (though he was never as loving as one) after all, and, though it's a little embarrassing to admit, was a massive Captain America fanboy, in his childhood. He knew plenty about the Red Skull and Hydra. "They stopped existing decades ago — what've they got to do with anything?"

Steve looks surprises to hear Tony changing the topic so quickly, though he sighs again at the mention of Hydra. "Yeah, they were around in the forties but fell apart after I defeated Schmidt..." Despite that, Tony can feel a 'but' coming on. "But—" Ah, there it is. "Ransom claims that he's being targeted by some of their agents. He says he was attacked by a group of them last week. They wanted to take him... _somewhere_ , apparently, but he got away — and now he wants us to help him stop them."

Tony stares at him silently, trying to process all of that. "What."

Steve huffs out a laugh. "Yeah, I know. He's crazy."

"Why would..." Tony scratches the back of his neck, frowning. "If, hypothetically, Hydra we’re back—Why would they be after _him_?"

"They're not, he's just making it up." Steve says quickly, rolling his eyes. "That's why I was angry at him. He's been nothing but an asshole to me all my life, and then he turns up here and makes up a load of bullshit about Hydra, all for attention and rubbish and—and he just expects me to _help_ him—"

"Okay, okay." Tony interrupts, raising a hand. "Okay. So he's made the whole thing up. Why was he really here, then?"

"I don't know." Steve shrugs, looking agitated. "Probably to cause trouble, or some shit, I don't _know_ —"

"Okay. Alright." Tony says softly, laying a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Easy. He's an asshole, like you said. Who knows what he was thinking, coming here. But he's gone now. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Steve laughs humorously. "I wish that was true. I'm always gonna worry about him, even if I hate his guts. He's my brother." He says bitterly, putting his head in his hands. He exhales deeply, breath shaking a little.

Tony slides his hand down from his shoulder and across to his upper back, sliding it back and forth between his shoulder-blades as a small gesture of comfort. He's mad at Steve, sure, but he knows Steve's feeling like shit, and he's not gonna be a dick and ignore that. 

"He wasn't always like this." Steve admits quietly, sounding hesitant, as though it's difficult to talk about his past. Tony reckons that's probably true. "Ransom, he...I used to admire him. He used to be a good guy."

Tony feels like he shouldn't pry, but he can't help from asking, "What happened?"

Steve shakes his head, and stares up at the ceiling, blinking heavily. After a moment, he tilts his head to the side and smiles at Tony, though it isn't a happy one. His eyes are sad. "I fucked up."

"...What do you mean?" Is all Tony can say, because he isn't sure what _else_ to say.

A look of guilt and heartache flashes across Steve's face. "Bucky—I didn’t—" He stammers, then closes his eyes and tries to compose himself. "I didn't react quickly enough and I—" Tony isn't quite sure what Steve's talking about, but he knows who Bucky was: Steve's old friend, and one of the Howling Commandos. He knows Steve still has nightmares about crashing into the ice and leaving Bucky behind in the forties, waking up in a future where he and all of his other loved ones are dead. It must've been awful, having to leave his friends and family behind. Tony wishes he could take the pain and grief away. "I can't explain it without—without giving context, but—" Steve continues. "It's a long story, and I—I don't know how—"

"Hey, it's okay." Tony leans into his side, bumping shoulders with him gently. Steve's breathing heavily, clearly about to panic, so Tony wraps an arm around him and hugs him tightly. "I've got time." He says quietly, kissing his shoulder. "You don't have to explain anything, but if you do, you can take all the time you need. It's okay."

Steve nods shakily, and Tony pretends not to notice the way he quickly wipes a hand over his eyes. "Alright." He eventually murmurs, voice small. He nods his head, then turns to face Tony. “Alright.” He says again. “I’ll—I’ll tell you everything, I swear—”

“It’s okay.” says Tony, gently.

“You might wanna sit down.” Steve laughs half-heartedly, as though he’s making a joke but also being somewhat half-serious. “I wasn’t joking when I—When I said it was a long story.”

“And I wasn’t kidding when I said I had all the time in the world.” Tony smiles, then strides over to the kitchen island, sitting down on one of the stools. Steve follows him, perching opposite him. “Like I said,” Tony starts, “You don’t have to tell me everything if you don’t—”

“No, you deserve to know.” Steve determines, shaking his head. “I don’t wanna keep you in the dark any longer.”

“Okay.” Tony replies, reaching out to squeeze Steve’s knee. Then: “Hey, if you want—” He adds quickly, still not sure if Steve is fully comfortable or not. “—we could go upstairs. Or I could get JARVIS to warn us if anyone—”

“That’s alright.” Steve smiles, ducking his head. “I don’t mind if the others overhear. I trust them.”

Tony nods in reply, then gives Steve the most welcoming smile he can, letting him know that it was okay for him to start. Steve stutters a little at first, unsure of how to begin, but soon calms down once Tony takes his hand, and then, after taking a deep breath, properly starts his story...

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked that!! I feel like the ending was really rushed and idk, I probably could’ve added more detail throughout the chapter but I also really wanted to get this published ASAP :)
> 
> (Like I said, I haven’t checked through this yet so I apologise if there’s any grammatical errors! Constructive criticism is welcome.) 
> 
> All will be revealed about Ransom’s background in the next chapter...


End file.
